Packing device for drill rods



Jan. 1925- v 1,522,239

c. c. HANSEN PACKING DEVICE FOR DRILL RODS Filed Sept. 14, 1923 A WIIIIIIIHIIIIIIIII.\ VII'I'I'II'I'I'I'III INVENTOR movies ans'en.

Patented Jan. 6, '1925.

UNITED; STATES PATENT-Q OFFICE.

. CHARLES C. HANSEN, OF EAS'ION, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO'INGERSOLL-BAND COMPANY, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, A GOBJORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

PACKING DEVICE FOR DRILL RODS;

Application filed September To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, CHARLES C. HANSEN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Easton, county of Northampton, State'of I Pennsylvania, have invented a certain Packing Device for DrilLRods,-of--which the 'following is a specification accompanied by In drilling oil and other wells, gas pressures of considerable magnitude are frequently encountered-wherna certain depth "has been reached. Uncontrolled escape of such gaspresentsa danger on account of the damage likely to be done to persons and from 800 to 2000 feet and is tightly em-.

0 the equipment, as well as becauseof the impossibility of carrying on the drillingoper-.

ation. Various means have therefore" been employed to pack the well against unintentional escape of the gasduring the drilling 25. as well as during the raisingand lowering of the drill rods and drilling tools, but it has heretofore been diflicult tosatisfactorily prevent the escape of gas from a well in which a core drill of the type mentioned' above was being used. This is artlydue to ill rods are tionisv to effect so stantiallivl pressure tight" 40 sealin of the well around t e drill rod and totig tly pack the drill rod at all times so that passage of portions of the. drill rod of difierent diameter past the seal maytake place in either direction without permitting the gas under pressure to escape. 'A. further object is to effect automatic adjustment of the packin members to accommodate the portions oft e drillrod of difierentdiammy I Still further objects will hereinafterappear, and to the ends 'set forththe invention consists in the several features of construction and-operation set forth in the following specification and shown in one preferred 14, 1923. Serial No. 662,746. 0

embodiment in the annexed drawing, formng a part hereof, in which v igure 1 is a vertical seictlonal View, partly broken away, of atypical core drill outfit in' place in a well being drilled, showing the invention applied thereto. v

Figure 2 is a detail side view taken in a direction opposite to Figure 1 and partly in section showing the automatic mechanism for adjusting the packing rollers;

Figure 3 is a detail transverse sectional view taken on the line 33 of Figure 2 looll ring in the-direction of the arrows, and

1 of 01%: of the packing rollers The drawings show, diagrammatically, an:

re 4; is an enlarged perspective view oil well of considerable depth, which may be from 1000 to 2500 feet or more. The first -'or outer casing A usually extends to a depth of The rotary drill rod or spindle composed of the 'rod sections E connected by outside couplings F extends throu h the casing A, and the'core barrel havingt e bit G is connected to the lowermost rodv section E. The drillspindle is rotated in the usual manner and the drilling is continued with the bit G until the gas strata H has been reached where the gas encountered may be ,under any 'pressure, up to from 1500 tofl2000 pounds per square. inch. Means are provided in the working) chambe'rflC for seahng the inner casing and preventing. unintentional escape of the gas, In this instance a pair ofco-operating packing rollers J and J are suitably mounted within a packing box K around the drill rod in position to embrace the drill rod upon .opposite'sides and constitute an effective sea J and J are designed to pee the drill rod and prevent leakage durmg passage of either the smaller diameter rod sections E or larger.

diameter couplings F between the r llers and J i A gate The valve connection P, packing box] K, I

valve casing .L and a pressure bleeder valve connectlon O are preferably The acking rollers valve casing L and connection 0 are concentrically arranged about the drill rod within the working chamber C, nd securely bolted together. The pressure b eeder valve connec tion 0 is suitably secured to the top of the inner casing D, as by the screw threaded flange Q. The top of the relief valve connection P is closed by a circular end plate R having a central aperture S, the diameter of which aperture S is such as to enable the drill rod coupling F to pass through. A

' disk T of rubber or other suitable compressible material is interposed between the plate R and section P. This disk T has an opening U concentric with the aperture S.

but of slightly less diameter, so that a relatively tight fit is provided about the larger and smaller diameter portions of the drill rod during their movement into and out of the well casing.

The pressure breeder valve 0 is designed to permit a controlled flow of gas to escape from the well when desired. Thegate valve L enables the well casing to be tightly sealed up after removal of the drill rods and other tools from the well. The compressible disk T tends'to prevent the escape of any gas which may leak past the seal formed by the packing rollers J and J and the relief .valve' P permits the safe con.

trolled removal of such gas.

The packing rollers J and J are identical in construction and have peripheral semi-circular grooves V of relatively large depth formed on opposite sides of portions W, which project slightly above the bases of the grooves V. Grooves X of lesser depth are formed in the faces of the projecting portions W. The grooves V and X of the opposing rollers J and J are adapted to be ahgned with each other to form substantially circular openings corresponding to the difierent diameter portions of the drill rod. The grooves X embrace opposite sides' of the drill rod sections E when the rollers are in one position as shown in Figure 1, and the grooves V embrace opposite sides of the couplings F when the rollers are turned in either direction upon their axles Y trunnioned in the walls Z of the packing box K.

The normal position of the vpacking rollers J and J is with the grooves X of the respective rollers embracing the sides of the drill rod E. When the drill rod is lowered the projecting end a of the coupling F will engage the sides I) of the projecting portions W of the rollers and cause the rollers to be rotated slightly, through an angle which in the present instance is sli htly less than 60 but which in all cases wi I depend upon the proportions of the parts. This rotative movement of the rollers will bring one set'of 'rooves V into en agement with the sides 0? the coupling F ust before the grooves X leave the sides of the drill rod. The seal is thus maintained at all times. When the drill rod is raised the opposite end a of the coupling F will engage the sides (Z of the portion W so that the opposite set of grooves V will embrace the coupling. The rollers J and J are preferably balanced so that when the drill rod is raised or lowered and one of the larger diameter couplings F has passed through the seal the rollers will automatically return to normal position with the grooves X in embracing engagement with the smaller diameter drill rod section E. Any suitable means may be employed for this purpose.

In the present instance the rollers are balanced by oppositely acting resilent means win the form of semi-circular coiled springs e and {lhoused in a suitable retaining box g whic may form part of the packing box K. These springs e and f act upon a lever it connected to the axle Y of the roller J, and the movement is caused to be transmitted to the opposite roller J through the agency. of intermeshing gears j and j secured on the axles Y, so that the rollers act in unison. When the drill rod is in position so that the grooves X embrace the .drill rodsection E the rollers are balanced by the springs e and f. When the drill rod is lowered it will be against the spring f, so that this spring f will be compressed. As son as the coupling F leaves the grooves V one of the springs will be released and will act to return the rollers to normal position. The action of the springs will be reversed when a coupling F is passed through the seal in an upward direction, but the same efiect will be produced.

- Filler pieces k and k are held by top bolts 0 in the walls of the packing box K and fill out the circular groove X and are providedfor the purpose of cutting ofi' or sealing the gas on the outer sides of the packing rollers.

I claim:

1. A packing device for drill rods, comprising a well casing and a drill rod adapted to operate therein, portions of said drill rod being of different diameters, and cooperating packing members having a pinrality of grooves, corresponding substantially to the portions of the drill rod of different diameters, whereby the packing members alternately embrace the said drill rod portions of difierent diameter and effect substantial sealing of the well casing.

lOO

2. In combination with a well casing and a drill rod having portions of different diameters, a pair of members each having peripheral grooves of difierent de th and adapted to cooperate to alternate y embrace the said drillrod portions of difierent diameters, and automatic means for normally retaining said members in engagement with a portion of one diameter of the drill rod, permitting movement of said members into engagement with another portion of difwith couplings between the sections of different diameters than the sections, and cooperating packing rollers having peripheral grooves of different depth adapted to alternately embrace the drill rod sections and couplings to substantially seal the well cas- 1n t. A packing device for drill rods, comprising a well casing and a drill rod adapted to operate therein, said drill rod being composed of a lurality of separate sections with 'couplmgs between the sections of different diameters than the sections, and

cooperating packing rollers having peripheral grooves of different depth adapted to alternately embrace the drill rod sections and couplings to substantially-seal the well casing, and automatic means for effecting movement of the rollers to cause one set of grooves to engage one portion of the drill rod of one diameter as another portion of diflerent diameter passes its corresponding set of grooves.

5. A packing device for drill rods comprising a Well casin and a drill rod adapted to operate thereln, said drill rod being composed of a plurality of separate sections with couplings between the sections of larger diameter than the sections and a pair of cooperating packing rollers having grooves of different depth adapted to embrace opposite portions of said drill rod sections, the openings between the grooves of said rollers corresponding substantially to the portions of different diameter of said sections and couplings, and effect substantial sealing of the well casing during passage of the drill rod between said rollers.

6. A packing device for drill rods, comprising a well casing and a drill rod adapted to operate therein, said drill rod being composed of a plurality of separate sections with couplings between the sections of larger diameter than the sections and a pair of cooperating packing rollers having grooves of different depth adapted to embrace o posite portions of said drill rod sec; tions, t e openings formed by the grooves of said rollers corresponding substantially to the portions of diflerent dlameter of said drill rod-sections and couplings and eflect substantial sealing of the well casing during passage of the drill rod between said rollers and automatic means for efi'ecting movement of the rollers to cause one set of grooves to engage a portion of one diameter of the drill rod as another portion of different diameter passes its corresponding set, of grooves. In testimony whereof I have signed this specification.

CHARLES C. HANSEN. 

